SRAM structure with reduced capacitance and resistance

ABSTRACT

A structure includes an SRAM cell includes a first and a second pull-up MOS device, and a first and a second pull-down MOS device forming cross-latched inverters with the first pull-up MOS device and the second pull-up MOS device. A first metal layer is over the gate electrodes of the MOS devices in the SRAM cell. The structure further includes a first metal layer, and a CVss landing pad, wherein the CVss landing pad has a portion in the SRAM cell. The CVss landing pas is in a second metal layer over the first metal layer. A word-line is in the second metal layer. A CVss line is in a third metal layer over the second metal layer. The CVss line is electrically coupled to the CVss landing pad.

PRIORITY CLAIM AND CROSS-REFERENCE

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/600,000, entitled “SRAM Structure with Reduced Capacitance andResistance,” filed on Oct. 11, 2019, which is a continuation of U.S.patent application Ser. No. 16/210,412, entitled “SRAM Structure withReduced Capacitance and Resistance,” filed on Dec. 5, 2018, now U.S.Pat. No. 10,490,261 issued on Nov. 26, 2019, which is a continuation ofU.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/641,013, entitled “SRAM Structurewith Reduced Capacitance and Resistance,” filed on Jul. 3, 2017, nowU.S. Pat. No. 10,163,488 issued Dec. 25, 2018, which is a continuationof U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/047,927, entitled “SRAM Structurewith Reduced Capacitance and Resistance,” filed on Feb. 19, 2016, nowU.S. Pat. No. 9,704,564 issued Jul. 11, 2017, which application claimsthe benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 62/260,858, entitled“High Speed Cell Structure,” filed on Nov. 30, 2015, which applicationsare hereby incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) is commonly used in integratedcircuits. SRAM cells have the advantageous feature of holding datawithout a need for refreshing. With the increasing demanding requirementto the speed of integrated circuits, the read speed and write speed ofSRAM cells also become more important. With the increasinglydown-scaling of the already very small SRAM cells, however, such requestis difficult to achieve. For example, the sheet resistance of metallines, which form the word-lines and bit-lines of SRAM cells, becomesincreasingly higher, and hence the RC delay of the word-lines andbit-lines of SRAM cells is increased, preventing the improvement in theread speed and write speed.

When entering into nanometer era, split-word-line SRAM cells have becomeincreasingly popular due to their lithography-friendly layout shapes ofactive regions, polysilicon lines, and metal layers, and also due toshorter bit-lines for speed improvement. However, in the nanometer era,SRAM cells are also larger, resulting in two problems. Firstly, eachbit-line has to be connected to more rows of SRAM cells, which induceshigher bit-line metal coupling capacitance, and hence the differentialspeed of the differential bit-lines (bit-line and bit-line bar) isreduced. Secondly, each word-line also has to be connected to morecolumns of SRAM cells, resulting in longer word-lines and hence worsenedresistance.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Aspects of the present disclosure are best understood from the followingdetailed description when read with the accompanying figures. It isnoted that, in accordance with the standard practice in the industry,various features are not drawn to scale. In fact, the dimensions of thevarious features may be arbitrarily increased or reduced for clarity ofdiscussion.

FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate circuit diagrams of a Static Random AccessMemory (SRAM) cell in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the layers involved in anSRAM cell in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 4 illustrates a layout of front-end features of a SRAM cell inaccordance with embodiments.

FIG. 5 illustrates a word-line and CVss landing islands in an SRAM cellin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates word-lines and CVss landing islands in an SRAM arrayin accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 7 illustrates a layout of an SRAM cell in accordance withembodiments.

FIG. 8 illustrates double word-lines and double CVss lines in accordancewith some embodiments.

FIG. 9 illustrates the layout of an SRAM cell including doubleword-lines and double CVss lines in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates the features in metal layers M1 through M3 of anSRAM cell in accordance with some embodiments.

FIG. 11 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the features in metallayers M1 through M3 of an SRAM cell in accordance with someembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following disclosure provides many different embodiments, orexamples, for implementing different features of the invention. Specificexamples of components and arrangements are described below to simplifythe present disclosure. These are, of course, merely examples and arenot intended to be limiting. For example, the formation of a firstfeature over or on a second feature in the description that follows mayinclude embodiments in which the first and second features are formed indirect contact, and may also include embodiments in which additionalfeatures may be formed between the first and second features, such thatthe first and second features may not be in direct contact. In addition,the present disclosure may repeat reference numerals and/or letters inthe various examples. This repetition is for the purpose of simplicityand clarity and does not in itself dictate a relationship between thevarious embodiments and/or configurations discussed.

Further, spatially relative terms, such as “underlying,” “below,”“lower,” “overlying,” “upper” and the like, may be used herein for easeof description to describe one element or feature's relationship toanother element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. Thespatially relative terms are intended to encompass differentorientations of the device in use or operation in addition to theorientation depicted in the figures. The apparatus may be otherwiseoriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatiallyrelative descriptors used herein may likewise be interpretedaccordingly.

A Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) cell and the corresponding SRAMarray are provided in accordance with various exemplary embodiments.Some variations of some embodiments are discussed. Throughout thevarious views and illustrative embodiments, like reference numbers areused to designate like elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates a circuit diagram of SRAM cell 10 in accordance withsome embodiments. SRAM cell 10 includes pull-up transistors PU-1 andPU-2, which are P-type Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (PMOS) transistors, andpull-down transistors PD-1 and PD-2 and pass-gate transistors PG-1 andPG-2, which are N-type Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor (NMOS) transistors. Thegates of pass-gate transistors PG-1 and PG-2 are controlled by word-lineWL that determines whether SRAM cell 10 is selected or not. A latchformed of pull-up transistors PU-1 and PU-2 and pull-down transistorsPD-1 and PD-2 stores a bit, wherein the complementary values of the bitare stored in Storage Date (SD) node 110 and SD node 112. The stored bitcan be written into, or read from, SRAM cell 10 through complementarybit lines including bit-line (BL) 114 and bit-line bar (BLB) 116. SRAMcell 10 is powered through a positive power supply node Vdd that has apositive power supply voltage (also denoted as VDD). SRAM cell 10 isalso connected to power supply voltage VSS (also denoted as Vss), whichmay be an electrical ground. Transistors PU-1 and PD-1 form a firstinverter. Transistors PU-2 and PD-2 form a second inverter. The input ofthe first inverter is connected to transistor PG-1 and the output of thesecond inverter. The output of the first inverter is connected totransistor PG-2 and the input of the second inverter.

The sources of pull-up transistors PU-1 and PU-2 are connected to CVddnode 102 and CVdd node 104, respectively, which are further connected topower supply voltage (and line) Vdd. The sources pull-down transistorsPD-1 and PD-2 are connected to CVss node 106 and CVss node 108,respectively, which are further connected to power supply voltage/lineVss. The gates of transistors PU-1 and PD-1 are connected to the drainsof transistors PU-2 and PD-2, which form a connection node that isreferred to as SD node 110. The gates of transistors PU-2 and PD-2 areconnected to the drains of transistors PU-1 and PD-1, which connectionnode is referred to as SD node 112. A source/drain region of pass-gatetransistor PG-1 is connected to bit line BL 114 at a BL node. Asource/drain region of pass-gate transistor PG-2 is connected to bitline BLB 116 at a BLB node.

FIG. 2 illustrates an alternative circuit diagram of SRAM cell 10,wherein transistors PU-1 and PD-1 in FIG. 1 are represented as firstinverter Inverter-1, and transistors PU-2 and PD-2 are represented assecond inverter Inverter-2. The output of first inverter Inverter-1 isconnected to transistor PG-1 and the input of the second inverterInverter-2. The output of second inverter Inverter-2 is connected totransistor PG-2 and the input of second inverter Inverter-2.

FIG. 3 illustrates a schematic cross-sectional view of a plurality oflayers involved in SRAM cell 10, which layers are formed on asemiconductor chip or wafer. It is noted that FIG. 3 is schematicallyillustrated to show various levels of interconnect structure andtransistors, and may not reflect the actual cross-sectional view of SRAMcell 10. The interconnect structure includes a contact level, an OD(wherein the term “OD” represents “active region”) level, via levelsVia_0 level, Via_1 level, Via_2 level, and Via_3 level, and metal-layerlevels M1 level, M2 level, M3 level, and M4 level. Each of theillustrated levels includes one or more dielectric layers and theconductive features formed therein. The conductive features that are atthe same level may have top surfaces substantially level to each other,bottom surfaces substantially level to each other, and may be formedsimultaneously. The contact level may include gate contacts (alsoreferred to as contact plugs) for connecting gate electrodes oftransistors (such as the illustrated exemplary transistors PU-1 andPU-2) to an overlying level such as the Via_0 level, and source/draincontacts (marked as “contact”) for connecting the source/drain regionsof transistors to the overlying level.

FIG. 4 illustrates a layout of the front-end features of SRAM cell 10 inaccordance with exemplary embodiments, wherein the front-end featuresincludes the features in the Via_0 level (FIG. 1 ) and the levelsunderlying the Via_0 level. The outer boundaries 10A, 10B, 10C, and 10Dof SRAM cell 10 are illustrated using dashed lines, which mark arectangular region. An N_well region is at the middle of SRAM cell 10,and two P_well regions are on opposite sides of the N_Well region. CVddnode 102, CVdd node 104, CVss node 106, CVss node 108, the bit-line (BL)node, and the bit-line bar (BLB) node, which are shown in FIG. 1 , arealso illustrated in FIG. 4 . Gate electrode 16 forms pull-up transistorPU-1 with the underlying active region (in the N_well region) 20, whichmay be fin-based, and hence are referred to fin 20 hereinafter. Gateelectrode 16 further forms pull-down transistor PD-1 with the underlyingactive regions (in the first P_well region on the left side of theN_well region) 14, which may be fin-based. Gate electrode 18 formspass-gate transistor PG-1 with the underlying active region 14. Gateelectrode 36 forms pull-up transistor PU-2 with the underlying activeregion (in the N_well region) 40. Gate electrode 36 further formspull-down transistor PD-2 with the underlying active region (in thesecond P_well region on the right side of the N_well region) 34. Gateelectrode 38 forms pass-gate transistor PG-2 with the underlying activeregion 34. In accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure, pass-gate transistors PG-1 and PG-2, pull-up transistorsPU-1 and PU-2, and pull-down transistors PD-1 and PD-2 are FinField-Effect Transistors (FinFETs). In accordance with alternativeembodiments of the present disclosure, pass-gate transistors PG-1 andPG-2, pull-up transistors PU-1 and PU-2, and pull-down transistors PD-1and PD-2 are planar MOS devices.

FIG. 4 illustrates two fins 14 (and two fins 34) in accordance with someembodiments. In accordance with other embodiments, there may be a singlefin, two fins, or three fins, wherein one of the fins 14 (and one offins 34) is illustrated as dotted to indicate the additional fins thatmay or may not exist.

As shown in FIG. 4 , SD node 110 includes source/drain contact plug 42and gate contact plug 44, which are the features at the contact level(FIG. 2 ). Contact plug 42 is elongated and has a longitudinal directionin the X direction, which is parallel to the extending directions ofgate electrodes 16 and 36. Gate contact plug 44 comprises a portionover, and is electrically connected to, gate electrode 36. In accordancewith some embodiments of the present disclosure, gate contact plug 44has a longitudinal direction in the Y direction, with is perpendicularto the X direction. In the manufacturing of the SRAM cell 10 on physicalsemiconductor wafers, contact plugs 42 and 44 may be formed as a singlecontinuous butted contact plug.

SD node 112 includes source/drain contact plug 46 and gate contact plug48. Gate contact plug 48 has a portion overlapping source/drain contactplug 46. Since SD node 110 may be symmetric to SD node 112, the detailsof gate contact plug 48 and source/drain contact plug 46 are notrepeated herein, and may be found referring to the discussion of gatecontact plug 44 and source/drain contact plug 42, respectively.

FIG. 4 also illustrates word line contacts (marked as WL contacts)connected to gate electrodes 18 and 38. Furthermore, a plurality ofvias, each illustrated using a circle and a “x” sign in the circle, isover and contacting the respective underlying contact plugs. Elongatedcontact plugs 54A and 54B are used to connect to the source regions ofpull-down transistors PD-1 and PD-2, respectively, to CVss lines.Elongated contact plugs 54A and 54B are parts of the CVss-nodes 106 and108, respectively. Elongated contact plugs 54A and 54B have lengthwisedirections parallel to the X direction, and may be formed to overlap thecorners of SRAM cell 10. Furthermore, elongated contact plugs 54A and54B may further extend into neighboring SRAM cells that abut SRAM cell10.

FIG. 5 illustrates the conductive features in the M2 level (FIG. 1 ),wherein the conductive features include those inside or adjacent to SRAMcell 10. For the sake of clarity, the front-end features as shown inFIG. 4 are not illustrated in FIG. 5 , while the front-end featuresstill exist. SRAM cell 10 includes cell boundaries 10A and 10B parallelto each other and extending in the X direction, and cell boundaries 10Cand 10D parallel to reach other and extending in the Y direction.Word-line 50 (including portions 50A and 50B) includes strip portion 50Aextending in the X direction. Strip portion 50A extends from boundary10A all the way to boundary 10B. Strip portion 50A has a rectangularshape. The opposite edges of strip portion 50A are parallel to eachother and extending in the X direction.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, word-line50 further includes a single jog portion 50B on one side of stripportion 50A, or two jog portions 50B on the opposite sides of stripportion 50A. The formation of jog portion 50B results in theadvantageously increase in the widths of word-line 50, and hence theresistance of word-line 50 is reduced, resulting in an advantageousreduction of RC delay in word-line 50. In accordance with alternativeembodiments, word-line 50 includes strip portion 50A and does notinclude jog portions 50B. Accordingly, jog portions 50B are illustratedusing dashed lines to indicate they may or may not exist.

CVss landing pads 52A and 52B, which are in combination referred to asCVss landing pads 52, are also formed in the M2 level. Throughout thedescription, the term “landing pads” refer to conductive features thatare large enough for their overlying vias (Via_2 level vias in thiscase) to land over. In accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure, CVss landing pads 52A and 52B are isolated islands in thetop view of SRAM cell 10, and may have rectangular shapes. The lengthsof CVss landing pads 52A and 52B are much shorter than the length ofword-line 50. For example, CVss landing pads 52A and 52B are shortenough, so that each CVss landing pad 52A and 52B extends into, andterminates in, two neighboring columns of SRAM cells. As shown in FIG. 6, each of landing pads 52A and 52B extends into four neighboring SRAMcells. As a comparison, word-line 50 may extend into 4 columns, 8columns, 16 columns, 32 columns (or more) of SRAM cells.

In conventional SRAM structures, Vss lines were formed as long linesparallel to the word-lines, and may have the same length as theword-lines. This results in large parasitic capacitance in theword-lines. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, since CVsslanding pads 52 are much shorter than the neighboring word-lines 50, theparasitic capacitance between CVss landing pads 52 and word-line 50 islow. In addition, since CVss landing pads 52 are short, it is possibleto form jog portions 50B using the spaces that are freed due to theshortening of CVss lines/pads. In accordance with some exemplaryembodiments of the present disclosure, width W2 of jog portions 50B towidth W1 of strip portion 50A has ratio W2/W1, which is greater thanabout 0.1. Ratio W2/W1 may be in the range between about 0.1 and about0.5.

As shown in FIG. 5 , jog portion 50B1, which is one of jog portions 50B,extends toward boundary 10A of SRAM cell, and is still spaced apart fromboundary 10A. Jog portion 50B1 further extends from boundary 10C towardCVss landing pad 52B. CVss landing pad 52B also extends from boundary10D toward jog portion 50B1. CVss landing pad 52B and jog portion 50B1,however, are spaced apart (in the X direction) by spacing S1 to leaveenough process margin, so that jog portion 50B1 and CVss landing pad 52Bdo not electrically short to each other. Similarly, jog portion 50B2extends toward boundary 10B, and is also spaced apart from CVss landingpad 52A by space S1.

FIG. 6 illustrates a portion of SRAM cell array 12, wherein theillustrated portion may be a portion of a larger array. The illustratedportion of the SRAM array includes 4×4 SRAM cells 10. As shown in FIG. 6, jog portion 50B has one end 50B′ terminating inside SRAM cell 10, andanother end 50B″. The other end terminates in a neighboring SRAM cell10. Strip portions 50A of word-line 50, on the other hand, may becontinuous strips extending into a plurality of SRAM cells in a samerow. In FIG. 6, letters “F” are used to illustrate the relativedirections of the layouts of SRAM cells 10, wherein each letter “F”represents an SRAM cell and its orientation. Letter F is unique in thatits features facing four directions (+X, −X, +Y, and −Y) are different,and hence can be used to identify the orientation of SRAM cells. Asshown in FIG. 6 , neighboring SRAM columns may mirror each other, andneighboring SRAM rows may mirror each other.

FIG. 7 illustrates the layout of SRAM cell 10 in accordance with someembodiments of the present disclosure. The structure shown in FIG. 5 andthe structure shown in FIG. 6 are combined into FIG. 7 . Accordingly,the relative positions of the features shown in FIG. 5 and the featuresshown in FIG. 6 may be found from FIG. 7 . The vias in FIG. 7 areillustrated, but are not separately marked using reference numerals.CVss-node 106 includes contact plug 54A at the contact level (FIG. 1 ),wherein contact plug 54A is electrically connected to landing pad 56A(at the M1 level) through a via (at Via_0 level) therebetween. Contactplug 54A is also electrically connected to the source region ofpull-down transistor PD-1. M1 level landing pad 56A is furtherelectrically connected (through a Via_1 level via) to the overlying M2level CVss landing pad 52A. M2 level landing pad 52A is furtherelectrically connected (through a Via_2 level via) to CVss line 58A,which is at the M3 level. CVss line 58A extends in the Y direction, andmay extend into a plurality of SRAM cells in the same column.

As further shown in FIG. 7 , word-line 50, which is at the M2 level(FIG. 1 ), is electrically coupled to landing pad 60A at the M1 levelthrough a via in the Via_1 level. Landing pad 60A is also electricallyconnected to gate contact plug 62A through a via at the Via-0 level.Again, the vias at various levels are illustrated, and are not markedindividually.

The above-discussed connections are on the left side of SRAM cell 10.Similarly, a plurality of connections including landing pads, vias, andcontact plugs are also formed on the right side of SRAM cells, theright-side connections are similar to, and may be symmetric to, theleft-side features, and hence are not discussed in detail. Theright-side connections have the same numbers as the correspondingleft-side connections, except the reference numerals of the right-sideconnections are ended with letter “B” rather than letter “A.”

As shown in FIG. 7 , CVdd line 118, bit-line 114, and bit-line bar (BLB)116 are disposed in the M1 level (FIG. 1 ), and have lengthwisedirections parallel to the Y direction. Accordingly, each of CVdd line118, bit-line 114, and BLB 116 may extend into, and may be connected to,a plurality of SRAM cells in the same column.

As shown in FIG. 7 , word-line 50, which is referred to as a first(1^(st)) word-line, is in the M2 level. To reduce the resistance ofword-lines, a second (2^(nd)) word-line 64 is disposed in the M4 level,and extends in the X direction, as illustrated in FIG. 8 . Some featuresshown in FIG. 7 are not illustrated in FIG. 8 for clarity reasons, whilethese features still exist. FIG. 8 illustrates the double word-line andthe double CVss line/pad in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure. Word-line 64 may also be formed as a continuousmetal line extending into a plurality of SRAM cells in the same row.Word-line 64 may overlap a portion of the underlying word-line 50, sothat it is convenient to form interconnections. For example, a M3 levellanding pad 66 is connected to the overlying word-line 64 through avia_3 level via, and connected to the underlying word-line 50 through aVia_2 level via. Accordingly, word-lines 50 and 64 are interconnected toform a double word-line structure, and hence the resistance of theresulting double word-line structure is reduced compared to single-wordline structure. In accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure, as shown in FIG. 8 , there is one (or more) double-word-lineinterconnection (including landing pad 66 and an overlying via and anunderlying via) per SRAM cell. In accordance with alternativeembodiments, there is one double-word-line interconnection shared by aplurality of SRAM cells in a same row. For example, a double-word-lineinterconnection may be formed every four SRAM cells, every eight SRAMcells, etc. in the same row.

FIG. 8 also illustrates CVss line 70 in the M4 level, wherein CVss line70 (referred to as a 2^(nd) CVss line) is parallel to 2^(nd) word-line64. CVss line 70 is formed at the boundary of SRAM cell 10, and may beshared by neighboring rows of SRAM cells. The 2^(nd) CVss line 70 has alengthwise direction parallel to the X direction. Furthermore, thereexist M3 level CVss lines 58 (including 58A and 58B, referred to as1^(st) CVss lines), which extend in the Y direction. CVss lines 58 and70 are interconnected through the vias in the Via_3 level to form adouble CVss line structure, so that the resistance of the CVss lines isalso reduced. In the top view of the respective SRAM array, CVss lines58 and 70 form a mesh structure. The CVss mesh is connected to CVsslanding pads 52A and 52B.

FIG. 9 illustrates a layout that combines the front-end structure inFIG. 7 with the structure in FIG. 8 . The word-line jog portions are notshown in FIG. 8 for clarity, while the jog portions may or may not beformed. Furthermore, a single fin is shown for each of the transistors,while multi-fin transistors are also contemplated.

FIG. 10 illustrates some features shown in FIG. 9 . The illustratedfeatures include the features in the M1 level, M3 level, and thefeatures therebetween, while other features including the front-endfeatures and the vias in the Via-0 level are not illustrated for claritypurpose. For example, the M1, M2, and M3 level features are illustrated.The M1 features include CVdd line 118, bit-line 114, and bit-line bar116. The M2 level features include word-line 50 (including strip portion50A and jog portions 50B (not shown)), and CVss landing pads 52A and52B. The M3 features include CVss lines 58A and 58B.

FIG. 11 schematically illustrates a cross-sectional view of thestructure in FIG. 10 , wherein the cross-sectional view is taken fromthe plane containing line 11-11 in FIG. 10 . In accordance with someembodiments of the present disclosure, the M1 level metal features suchas landing pad 56B have thickness T1, the M2 level metal features suchas CVss landing pad 52B and word-line 50 have thickness T2, the M3 levelmetal features such as the 2nd CVss line 58B has thickness T3. Inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, thickness T2is greater than thicknesses T1 and T3. For example, thickness T2 may begreater than both thicknesses T1 and T3 by 30 percent, or by adifference between about 30 percent and about 100 percent. Alternativelystated, each of ratios T2/T1 and T2/T3 may be greater than about 1.3, orbetween about 1.3 and about 2.0. In accordance with alternativeembodiments, thickness T2 is equal to or greater than thickness T1, andthickness T3 is equal to or greater than thickness T2.

Word-lines 50 are long, especially in large SRAM arrays. Accordingly,the resistance of word-lines 50 significantly affects the performance ofthe large SRAM cell arrays. Since word-lines 50 is in the M2 level,whose thickness was typically small in conventional structures, theword-line performance may become a bottle neck in the improvement of theperformance of the SRAM cells array. Making word-line 50 to be thickthus may result in the advantageous reduction of the sheet resistance ofword-lines. Accordingly, the speed of the resulting SRAM cells may beimproved by increasing the thicknesses of the word-lines 50. On theother hand, the resistance of the bit-lines may be reduced by arrangingbit-lines in the M3 level and the M4 level, which are typically thick.

The embodiments of the present disclosure have some advantageousfeatures. By forming CVss landing pads 52A and 52B, which are short andisolated (rather than being long metal lines), the parasitic capacitancebetween the CVss landing pads and the word-lines is reduced.Furthermore, breaking CVss lines in the M2 level into short landing padsmakes it possible to form word-line jogs, and hence the resistance ofthe word-lines is reduced. With both parasitic resistance and resistancebeing reduced, the RC delay of the word-lines is reduced, and the speedof the resulting SRAM cell is improved. The reduction in the resistanceof the word-lines may also be achieved by forming double word-lines (inboth M2 level and M4 level), and by increasing the thickness of the M2level features.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, anintegrated circuit structure includes an SRAM) cell, which includes afirst pull-up MOS device and a second pull-up MOS device, and a firstpull-down MOS device and a second pull-down MOS device formingcross-latched inverters with the first pull-up MOS device and the secondpull-up MOS device. The integrated circuit structure further includes anelongated contact over and electrically coupled to a source of the firstpull-down MOS device, and a first metal layer, with a bit-line and aCVdd line in the first metal layer. A CVss landing pad overlaps and iselectrically coupled to the elongated contact. The CVss landing pad hasa portion in the SRAM cell, with the portion having a first length and afirst width smaller than a second length and a second width of the SRAMcell. A word-line has a first lengthwise direction, wherein theword-line and the CVss landing pad are in a second metal layer over thefirst metal layer. A CVss line is in a third metal layer over the secondmetal layer. The CVss line is electrically coupled to the CVss landingpad, and the CVss line has a second lengthwise direction perpendicularto the first lengthwise direction.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, anintegrated circuit structure includes an SRAM) cell, which includes afirst pull-up MOS device and a second pull-up MOS device, and a firstpull-down MOS device and a second pull-down MOS device formingcross-latched inverters with the first pull-up MOS device and the secondpull-up MOS device. The integrated circuit structure further includes anelongated contact over and electrically coupled to a source of the firstpull-down MOS device, and a first metal layer, with a bit-line and aCVdd line in the first metal layer. A word-line is in a second metallayer over the first metal layer. The word-line includes a strip portionand a jog portion in the SRAM cell. The strip portion has a rectangulartop-view shape. The jog portion is connected to a first sidewall of thestrip portion, and extends toward the first boundary. The jog portionfurther extends from the third boundary toward the fourth boundary, andis spaced apart from the fourth boundary. A CVss line is in a thirdmetal layer over the second metal layer.

In accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure, anintegrated circuit structure includes an SRAM) cell, which includes afirst pull-up MOS device and a second pull-up MOS device, and a firstpull-down MOS device and a second pull-down MOS device formingcross-latched inverters with the first pull-up MOS device and the secondpull-up MOS device. The integrated circuit structure further includes anelongated contact over and electrically coupled to a source of the firstpull-down MOS device, and a first metal layer, with a bit-line and aCVdd line in the first metal layer. A word-line extends from the thirdboundary to the fourth boundary. The word-line is in a second metallayer over the first metal layer. A CVss line is in a third metal layerover the second metal layer. The second metal layer has a thicknessgreater than a thickness of the first metal layer and a thickness of thethird metal layer.

The foregoing outlines features of several embodiments so that thoseskilled in the art may better understand the aspects of the presentdisclosure. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they mayreadily use the present disclosure as a basis for designing or modifyingother processes and structures for carrying out the same purposes and/orachieving the same advantages of the embodiments introduced herein.Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalentconstructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the presentdisclosure, and that they may make various changes, substitutions, andalterations herein without departing from the spirit and scope of thepresent disclosure.

What is claimed is:
 1. An integrated circuit structure comprising: afirst Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) cell comprising: a firstpull-up Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (MOS) device and a second pull-up MOSdevice; and a first pull-down MOS device and a second pull-down MOSdevice forming cross-latched inverters with the first pull-up MOS deviceand the second pull-up MOS device; and a first elongated contact plugelectrically coupling to a first source of the first pull-down MOSdevice, wherein the first elongated contact plug has a first lengthwisedirection perpendicular to a second lengthwise direction of asemiconductor fin of the first pull-down MOS device, and the firstelongated contact plug extends to a first boundary and a second boundaryof the SRAM cell, with the first boundary perpendicular to, and joinedwith, the second boundary.
 2. The integrated circuit structure of claim1, wherein the first elongated contact plug further extends into asecond SRAM cell neighboring the first SRAM cell.
 3. The integratedcircuit structure of claim 2, wherein the first elongated contact plugfurther extends into a third SRAM cell and a fourth SRAM cellneighboring the first SRAM cell.
 4. The integrated circuit structure ofclaim 1 further comprising: a second elongated contact plug electricallycoupling to a second source of the second pull-down MOS device, whereinthe second elongated contact plug extends to a third boundary and afourth boundary of the SRAM cell, with the third boundary perpendicularto, and joined with, the fourth boundary.
 5. The integrated circuitstructure of claim 1 further comprising: a CVdd line in a first metallayer over the first elongated contact plug, wherein the CVdd line has athird lengthwise direction perpendicular to the first lengthwisedirection; a metal pad in the first metal layer; and a via between, andphysically contacting, the metal pad and the first elongated contactplug.
 6. The integrated circuit structure of claim 5 further comprising:a word-line extending from the first boundary of the SRAM cell to athird boundary of the SRAM, with the first boundary and the thirdboundary being parallel to each other, wherein the word-line is in asecond metal layer immediately over the first metal layer.
 7. Theintegrated circuit structure of claim 1 further comprising: a CVsslanding pad over and electrically coupling to the first elongatedcontact plug, wherein the CVss landing pad has a portion in the SRAMcell, with the portion having a first length and a first width smallerthan a second length and a second width, respectively, of the SRAM cell.8. The integrated circuit structure of claim 7, wherein the CVss landingpad extends into the first SRAM cell and three neighboring SRAM cells.9. An integrated circuit structure comprising: a Static Random AccessMemory (SRAM) cell comprising: a first pull-up Metal-Oxide Semiconductor(MOS) device and a second pull-up MOS device; a first pull-down MOSdevice and a second pull-down MOS device forming cross-latched inverterswith the first pull-up MOS device and the second pull-up MOS device; afirst boundary and a second boundary parallel to each other; and a thirdboundary and a fourth boundary parallel to each other; an elongatedcontact plug over and electrically connecting to a first source regionof the first pull-down MOS device, wherein the elongated contact plugextends to the first boundary and the third boundary; a first via overand physically joined to the elongated contact plug; a metal pad overand physically joined to the first via; a second via over and physicallyjoined to the metal pad; and a first CVss landing pad over andphysically joined to second via, wherein the first CVss landing pad hasa portion in the SRAM cell, wherein the first CVss landing pad extendsto the first boundary and the third boundary, and is spaced apart fromthe second boundary and the fourth boundary.
 10. The integrated circuitstructure of claim 9 further comprising: a second CVss landing pad overand electrically connecting to a second source region of the secondpull-down MOS device, wherein the second CVss landing pad has a portionin the SRAM cell, and wherein the second CVss landing pad extends to thesecond boundary and the fourth boundary, and is spaced apart from thefirst boundary and the third boundary.
 11. The integrated circuitstructure of claim 9 further comprising: a word-line having a firstlengthwise direction, wherein the word-line extends from the firstboundary to the second boundary, with the first boundary and the secondboundary being parallel to each other, and wherein the word-line and thefirst CVss landing pad are in a same metal layer.
 12. The integratedcircuit structure of claim 11, wherein the word-line and the elongatedcontact plug have lengthwise directions parallel to each other.
 13. Theintegrated circuit structure of claim 11, wherein the word-linecomprises: a strip portion in the SRAM cell, the strip portion having arectangular top-view shape, wherein the strip portion extends from thefirst boundary to the second boundary; and a first jog portion joining afirst sidewall of the strip portion, wherein the first jog portionextends to the first boundary, and the first jog portion is spaced apartfrom the second boundary.
 14. The integrated circuit structure of claim13, wherein the word-line further comprises a second jog portion joininga second sidewall of the strip portion, with the first sidewall and thesecond sidewall being opposing to each other, wherein the second jogportion extends to the second boundary, and is spaced apart from thefirst boundary.
 15. The integrated circuit structure of claim 9 ,wherein the elongated contact plug and the first CVss landing pad havelengthwise directions parallel to each other.
 16. The integrated circuitstructure of claim 9 , wherein the SRAM cell further comprises: ann-well; and a first p-well and a second p-well on opposing sides of then-well, wherein the elongated contact plug is directly over one of thefirst p-well.
 17. An integrated circuit structure comprising: a StaticRandom Access Memory (SRAM) cell having a first boundary and a secondboundary parallel to each other, and a third boundary and a fourthboundary parallel to each other, wherein the third boundary and thefourth boundary are perpendicular to the first boundary and the secondboundary; a first contact plug over and electrically coupling to theSRAM cell, wherein the first contact plug overlaps the first boundaryand the third boundary, and the first contact plug is elongated, and hasa first lengthwise direction parallel to the first boundary; and asecond contact plug over and electrically coupling to the SRAM cell,wherein the second contact plug overlaps the second boundary and thefourth boundary, and the second contact plug is elongated, and has asecond lengthwise direction parallel to the second boundary.
 18. Theintegrated circuit structure of claim 17, wherein each of the firstcontact plug and the second contact plug extends into four SRAM cells.19. The integrated circuit structure of claim 17 further comprising: afirst via over and physically joined to the first contact plug; a metalpad over and physically joined to the first via; a second via over andphysically joined to the metal pad; and a CVss landing pad over andphysically joined to the second via, wherein the CVss landing pad has aportion in the SRAM cell, wherein the CVss landing pad extends to thefirst boundary and the third boundary, and is spaced apart from thesecond boundary and the fourth boundary.
 20. The integrated circuitstructure of claim 19 further comprising: a CVdd line, wherein both ofthe metal pad and the CVdd line are in a same metal layer, wherein theCVdd line is elongated and has a lengthwise direction perpendicular tothe first boundary.